


Bended Knee

by NeverFearToDream



Series: Rings [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bucky Barnes Feels, Emotions, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, Fluff, Happy Ending, I Love You, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Polyamorous Character, Polyamory, Same-Sex Marriage, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Steve Rogers Feels, Tony Stark Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-09
Updated: 2017-05-09
Packaged: 2018-10-29 21:15:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10862238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeverFearToDream/pseuds/NeverFearToDream
Summary: Tony loves his soulmates more than anything else.Tony wants nothing more than to belong to them in every way possible; including matrimony.Tony can finally ask a question he's waited to for a long time.





	Bended Knee

**Author's Note:**

> Its just... feels. It's all kinds of good, good feels.

He’d waited so long. 

He’d hoped  _ so hard _ .

And now, it was finally here. It was finally official and he could barely contain himself. He stayed up all night in the lab, tinkering absentmindedly with random tools while he watched the live footage of voters. Politicians going into the booths, coming out, smiling, giving brief interviews. He watched all the bullshit coverage so that he wouldn’t miss the  _ second  _ the verdict came in, wouldn’t miss the exact moment things were decided. 

The Bill passed. 

The Bill passed and Tony felt so wonderfully bursting he cried. 

“Are they up yet, Jarvis?” Tony asked, tinkering with his cufflinks nervously. 

“They have recently gotten into the shower.” Jarvis replied, and Tony momentarily forgot how to breath. 

He didn’t know how to control his feelings. He didn’t know how to express them always, because he’d grown up with the names of dead men on his wrist. He was so prepared to never have the love of his soulmates, that he didn’t always know what to do with it. Somedays, he just laid there, and soaked it up like a cat in the sun. Others, he hid from it, until they tracked him down and made him realize they wouldn’t ever take their love away. That they weren’t going anywhere. 

“When they get to the kitchen, tell me.” He breathed, staring at the two little boxes in his hands. 

He’d thought so hard about this. Wondered and hoped and  _ dreamed  _ for so long. About how it would go, about how they’d react, about law recognizing them as equal partners. Now that it was here, and the rings he crafted himself were about to be seen by more than just himself, it was almost too much. They’d been dating for three years now, and Tony hadn’t felt like an intruder on their relationship after the first month. Bucky and Steve were the best things to ever happen to Tony, and he wanted to be  _ everything  _ with them. The moment the legislature for polyamorous marriage picked up traction, and it looked like it  _ might actually pass _ , he’d started to make the rings. 

He’d wanted to do something big and expensive, with jewels and precious metals practically dripping from it. He’d wanted to show the world how much he loved them by giving them the very best engagement rings anyone had ever  _ seen _ . Opulent and grand but beautiful and classy. But… that wasn’t Steve. And that wasn’t Bucky. And Tony wanted them to be happy, to feel loved and that started with a ring that was just for them and what they would love. A ring for them, not tabloids and onlookers. 

He made them from gold, so you could see it against Bucky’s prosthetic. (Well, if he was being honest, a gold titanium alloy like his suits. Normal gold was too soft for men with super strength and an extreme likeness of punching someone or something while wearing it.)

A line of black onyx ran through the center of the ring, all the way around, standing out beautifully from the gold. Tony had quarreled over what to use as the core strip since he decided to put it there. He chose onyx late one night, half out of his mind on sleep deprivation, when he found it in a book on the meanings of different stones and minerals. It was supposed to protect the wearer and repel negativity. Tony thought it was perfect, because he wanted nothing more than to keep them safe. Tony poured as much love into making the rings as he could, filled them with his dedication since he began, and now… now they would be presented to their intended wearers. 

The Bill had passed. Last night, before his eyes, everything he’d wanted was opened up to him as democracy ruled in his favor. 

“Sir? Mr. Rogers and Barnes have made their way into the kitchens.”

Taking a deep breath, he nodded, closing the ring boxes. His heart was pounding, the force of it ringing through his arc reactor. Tony had met presidents, showed weapons of mass destruction off to seasoned military men, stared down large crowds who thought him a flashy brat. He’d fought aliens and terrorists and… and he’d never felt so unsteady in his life as he did walking up from the lab, hands curled so the boxes weren’t visible. 

“All I’m saying is, you could easily use that pancake batter to make waffles.” Bucky’s voice hit him first, playful, just a touch of groggy hanging on. 

“I asked if you wanted something specific and you said you didn’t care,” Steve answered, while Tony rounded the bend. “If you wanted waffles, that was the time to say it, because now I’ve  promised my stomach pancakes.”

“Steve--”

“Should have said something--”

Tony froze up, just taking in the scene. Bucky’s hair was still damp, pulled back into a ponytail, little drops of water splashing onto the back of shirt. Steve had a frilly little apron someone bought as a joke tied around his waist, but there was a swipe of flower on his cheek. They were smiling, joking,  _ happy _ . It made something warm and fuzzy well up in Tony. 

“Tony! You didn’t come to bed last night.” Steve spotted him first, surprised he was awake and dressed in a suit. Normally when Tony didn’t come to bed, it was because he crashed hard into a project and emerged who knows how long later, groggy and searching for caffeine. 

“What’s with the monkey suit, you have a meeting?” Bucky plopped the waffle iron on the counter, nudging it towards Steve. 

“No,” Tony shook his head, smiling. “No, no meeting. Actually… I was up last night waiting to hear about a Bill.”

“Money trouble?” Steve frowned, wiping batter off onto his apron. 

“Not a  _ bill _ ,” Tony smiled, fondly. “A  _ Bill _ , like, legislature. There was a vote last night that I was very eager to know about.”

“I think that kinda stuff is boring.” Bucky said, leaning into the island. Steve hummed in agreement. 

Tony knew that. Tony knew they found the finer points of legislator boring, didn’t follow much of it, no matter how much the media tried to paint Steve as King of the Patriots. He knew they weren’t following the Bill he was, didn’t know how much the world had changed for Tony yesterday in front of that TV. 

“I know. That’s why I didn’t tell you about it. I do… I do have a question, though, that I’ve wanted to ask for a while.” Tony felt his fingers shake around the velvet boxes while he popped them open with his thumbs. 

“Shoot.” Bucky said, smiling that wonderful crooked smile. 

Steve turned his bright eyes on Tony, and under the weight of both their eyes, he lost all the moisture in his mouth. He wanted this  _ so badly _ . Wanted to drop onto his knees and beg them to marry him, beg them to give him this thing he’d dreamed of forever and was  _ finally allowed _ . Wanted it so badly he didn’t know what he’d do if they said no. Because… they’d never talked about this. They’d never talked about marriage, never even mentioned it really. 

“What’s wrong?” Steve asked, furrowing his brow. 

“Not a thing.” Tony breathed, feeling tears welling up in his eyes. 

He just felt  _ so much _ , and he didn’t ever know what to do with it all. 

“The Bill I was following was very important to me, and I’ve seen so many versions of it fail so many times that when this one looked like it would pass… I couldn’t believe it. I’ve wanted this so long, you don’t understand, and I… I thought a bill would  _ never _ pass and give it to me. But it did.” Tony smiled, walking closer, nearly stumbling. He was already crying, his two beautiful soulmates confused and a little worried looking but  _ perfect  _ and  _ everything he’d ever hoped for _ . 

“It was passed last night, and so I can  _ finally ask _ … I can finally ask if you, James Buchanan Barnes, and Steve Grant Rogers,” Tony practically dropped to his knees, both going down hard when he brought the rings up for them, his figurative heart in two little velvet boxes. “If you will do me the honor of marrying me.” 

There was a moment of silence, and long moment where they just stared at the little boxes, stunned. It nearly ripped Tony in half, that moment, where he was vulnerable and exposed down to his bones, unsure of what they were thinking. 

“Yes.” Steve rasped, dropping a whisk Tony hadn’t realized he was still holding. “ _ Yes. _ ”

He dropped to his knees, wrapping his big arms around Tony. Burying his head into Tony’s neck, his shoulders shook with choking sobs. Bucky hadn’t said anything, starring at the ring like it was the first time he’d ever seen a piece of jewelry. Tony bit his lip, worried. 

“Are you sure… you wanna marry  _ me _ ?” Bucky asked, voice gruff from barely contained emotions. 

“I’ve never wanted something more in my life.” Tony didn’t even hesitate, needing Bucky to know just how badly he did. 

“Oh,  _ fuck _ ,” Bucky pressed the backs of his hands against his eyes, metal and flesh fingers alike trembling. “Fuck, Tony, yes. Of…  _ god,  _ of course.” He dropped his hands from his eyes, tears rolling from red eyes. 

“Language.” Steve mumbles against Tony’s neck, and it was just too much. 

Tony starts laughing and it ripples through the three of them, until Bucky gots down on his knees, pressing his face into Tony’s hair. He wrapped a hand around the back of the genius’s neck, kissing him hard and deep, no more self deprecating uncertainty anywhere to be found. Tony melts into it, all the swirling,  bursting emotions finally having somewhere to go. Pulling away for a breath, Tony pants, rolling his shoulders in such a way that made the super soldiers pull back to look at him. 

“I worked  _ really hard  _ on these. Are you gonna let me put them on you, or what?” Tony pouts, lifting the boxes up again. 

Steve laughs, wiping at his tears, he shoves his left hand out and wiggles the fingers. Setting Bucky’s ring gently on his knee, he plucks Steve’s out of the box. Taking the hand gently, he slides the ring on. It fits perfectly; of course it fits perfectly, Tony made it for him with his own two hands and nothing Tony makes for the ones he loves is less than perfect. He kissed the knuckles, the sight of the ring actually on his finger,  _ finally _ , almost making him shiver. 

“Hey now,” Bucky says, holding his own hand out. “Don’t leave me out of the party.” 

“Never.” Tony says seriously, even though it was a joke. “ _ Never _ .”

Slipping the ring onto his finger, Tony kissed his knuckles, knowing just how feeling that hand was despite the metal sheen. Pressing his forehead into the back of that hand, the metal cool and refreshing against his warm skin, Tony took a moment to breath. He didn’t know what he’d expected. He didn’t know if he thought they’d say no, or if they’d smile politely and accept just to turn him down gently later but… 

_ But they said yes _ . 

And they wanted it just as much as him. 

“I love you both so much.” He whispered, trembling under the weight of his own feelings. 

“I love you, too.” Bucky runs his hand through Tony’s hair, scratching at his scalp in just the way that always made him melt. 

Steve wrapped his arms around Tony again, pressing into his back. “I love you, Tony.” 

They sat there for a while, all wrapped up together in what was probably a very odd looking way. But it was perfect, even when the tile made Tony’s knees ache. It was perfect because these were his  _ soulmates _ , and now, his  _ fiances _ . They were Tony’s everything, and when he had them with him, sharing in his emotions, they didn’t drown him. Steve and Bucky were everything Tony ever wanted, and everything he’d ever dreamed of. 

“Steve?” Tony sniffed, twisting to catch his fiance’s eyes. 

“Hm?”

“I agree with Bucky. Totally a waffle kinda day.” He grinned, yelping indignantly when Steve whacked him with the abandoned whisk. 

He’d waited so long. 

And he’d hoped so hard. 

And he  _ got it _ . 

**Author's Note:**

> I've been a little obsessed with Steve, Bucky, and Tony. It is my very first OT3! AH! This is what happened when my brain started obsessing with these three as a couple and soulmate AUs at the same time! I couldn't help but think that in a universe where soulmates were literally identified on the wrist, it would just be a matter of time until polyamorous marriage was legalized. So, this was Tony, who just wanted to marry his soulmates, finally getting the chance!


End file.
